I tried to spruce this up and make it more readable and less dry, but I don't want to spend more time on it. There is some good information below some of the dry stuff. I wish I had more patience to make it better.
Learning about soy and estrogen mimickers
It is difficult to know what are the effects of estrogen mimicking substances known as "xenoestrogens". It is not a simple subject and it does not help when different institutions or corporate entities have strong monetary interests in influencing opinion or perceived facts. Especially when they are funding some of the research on the topic. You can read articles such as "Some Food Additives Mimic Human Hormones" in the March 27th 2009 issue of Scientific American. You will probably gain additional questions without answering questions that you already had. We are probably not going to answer a question like this on the forum when we know that we cannot recommend whether someone visit Belo Horizonte, Bucharest, Ljubljana, Medellin, Mendoza, Minsk, or Wroclaw or how easy it would be to pull without asking many questions about the person and what they expect and want. We would also need to combine our personal experiences with information forum posts and determine which forum information seems to be more accurate and up to date. Do we have the same expertise amongst us to reliably answer questions about the effects of estrogen mimickers in soy and the effects on our libido or tools. So, you might consider it to be a journey and not freak out about the soy when you regularly consume an energy drink from a flexible plastic bottle that contains BPA. Maybe you might vary your diet and not eat too much soy. Maybe you might make your own energy drink or smoothy from fresh vegetables and fruit and put it in your hard nalgene bottle that does not contain BPA.
Why people consume Soy
A complimentary protein alternative
People tend to eat soy because it is considered a "high quality" protein which contains the "essential amino acids" which your liver cannot produce or cannot produce in sufficient quantities to support protein synthesis. If you want to reduce or eliminate your intake of animal protein to reduce cholesterol intake and you also want to avoid soy, you might consider "complementary proteins" such as legumes and grains. Together legumes { Ile, Lys } and grains { Met, Trp } will help provide you with the essential amino acids that will yield "high quality" proteins. Proteins are merely sequences of amino acids that our cells construct from mRNA template recipes and amino acid ingredients. There are studies that have shown that consumption of greater than 30 grams of protein per meal does not "further enhance the stimulation of muscle protein synthesis in young and elderly". Though, when an experiment supports a hypothesis, others must repeat well designed experiments with controls and be able to duplicate the results to validate the first study. Also, the population that the study results deal with must be similar to the population of people that you want to apply the hypothesis.
J Am Diet Assoc. 2009 Sep;109(9):1582-6.
A moderate serving of high-quality protein maximally stimulates skeletal muscle protein synthesis in young and elderly subjects.
One reason people minimize animal protein consumption
Many people avoid consumption of animal proteins from meat and dairy in order to reduce their cholesterol levels to avoid or reverse atherosclerosis ( ather - pertaining to arteries, o - connecting vowel, sclerosis - hardening ) Atherosclerosis is a major cause of erectile dysfunction and most likely causes myocardial infarctions ( heart attack ) and embolic strokes. ( Cholesterol plaques break away from vessel walls and disrupt circulation to tissues ) Animals including humans produce cholesterol to provide support in the bilipid layer of cell membranes, produce hormones such as estrogen, testosterone. Cholesterol is also used for other functions such as vitamin D synthesis. Most plants produce no cholesterol or produce very little cholesterol.
Reducing cholesterol levels by increasing HDL levels through exercise
Many people also consume supplements such as fish oil (activated) or flax seed oil ( non activated ) to increase HDL levels. One function of HDLs is to act as a cholesterol vacume cleaner with the liver momentarily converting them to VLDLs. Often males will have low HDL lab levels around 35 mg/dL. The best way to increase HDL levels is by exercising. Fish oil and flax seed oil are not as effective as exercise in increasing HDL levels. Also, if you consume too much of these oils you could have a Rooshian (trademark) bowel move which is not to be confused with the latest salsa dance moves. Though, do not count on your local nutrition center to tell you this. What is the bioavailability of the supplements that you fork over your hard earned cash for anyway? Are they best absorbed with food, or without food? Does the liver need to activate them or do other foods bind with these supplements?
Eating Traditions and established behaviors
Our culture and tradition has established our diet and you might have difficulty adhering to a diet as a long term lifestyle change. Your family and friends may not appreciate your desire to change our eating habits. You may be ready to lick the barbecue after obstaining from eating uncle Leroy's juicy maranated chicken. The local store may not have what you are looking for or the produce may look like crap. I would encourage you to not look at changes in your diet as yes or no decision. You might focus on increasing what you currently believe is good and minimize what you currently believe is bad. Maximize the good and minimize the bad over a longer period of time.
Quote: (02-07-2012 09:49 PM)nmmoooreland20 Wrote:
Quote: (02-07-2012 10:51 AM)Diomedes Wrote:
Quote: (02-06-2012 10:35 PM)nmmoooreland20 Wrote:
Anyone know if Soy Lecithin has the same effect? My go-to protein bar has it
Worry not. Have read that it doesn't. Even if that is not true it will be nowhere near enough to affect anything. Soya lecithin is a common binding agent that is added to food. You'll see it on a lot of processed food.
By the way, anyone interested in increasing sperm volume should get some. 1200mg/a day worked better for me than 100mg zinc/a day, l-arginine, pumpkin seeds or maca.
Thanks man.